Shoe construction



y 1962 s. GOLDBERG 3,032,895

SHOE CONSTRUCTION Filed NOV. 28, 1960 Z0 22 A, J F 6 4 INVENTOR.

544/051 GDADBERG United States Patent 1 Claim. (Cl. 36-2.5)

This invention relates to shoes and, more particularly, to the outersole construction therefor.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an outer soleassembly for shoes, especially womens shoes, which will eliminate thenecessity for a wedge type heel without sacrificing the strength andcomfort thereof.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a supportedshank type outer sole assembly for shoes which is extremely flexible,and which is sufficiently rigid between the sole and heel to support theshank area independently of the free movement of the toe portion of theshoe.

Still an additional object of the present invention is to provide shoeconstruction of the type described which employs lacing as a connectionbetween the adjacent ends of a flexible outer half-sole portion and arigid outer heel-and-shank sole portion, together with adhesivetherebetween for supplying the necessary flexibility without sacrificingsuificient rigidity of the shank portion.

All of the foregoing and still further objects and advantages of thisinvention will become apparent from a study of the followingspecification, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a shoe having a sole constructionmade in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the sole assembly embodied in the shoeof FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the assembly shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along line44 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along line5-5 of FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawing, and more particularly to FIG. 1 thereof,an outer sole made in accordance with the present invention is shownapplied to a shoe having an upper, a heel, and a wedgeless shank area.

With reference now to FIGS. 2 to 5 of the drawing, the outer soleassembly 10 is shown to include a flexible [uter half-sole 12 and arigid outer heel-and-shank portion 14. As is clearly shown in FIG. 5 ofthe drawing, the adjacent ends of the outer half sole and outerheeland-shank portion are tapered and cemented together with a layer ofadhesive 16 to provide a flexible joint. In addition, the overlappingportions of the half sole and heel-and-shank portion are provided withaligned perice forations through which a lacing material 18 is threaded,with the opposite ends thereof terminating on the same side of theheel-and-shank portion 14 facing the innersole of the shoe.

In assembling this outer sole assembly with the shoe 15, a rigid shank22 is sandwiched between the outer sole assembly 10, above the outerheel-and-shank portion 14, and the innersole 20. This shank 22, which ispreferably of metallic construction, provides sufficient support for thearch of the foot to span the distance between the heel and the flexibleouter half sole 12. The flexible adhesive 16 and lace joint of the outerhalf sole and outer heel-and-shank portion accommodates constant flexingof the .half sole relative to the heel-andshank portion without damagingthe bond therebetween.

It will now be recognized that this construction may be readily appliedto all types of shoes, thus eliminating the necessity for theconventional wedge type heel, and providing a substantial degree offlexibility during walking, without interfering with the rigid archsupport.

While this invention has been described with particular reference to theconstruction shown in the drawing, it is to be understood that such isnot to be construed as imparting limitations upon the invention, whichis best defined by the claim appended hereto.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

In a shoe having an upper and a heel, a sole assembly comprising aflexible outer half-sole portion for the forepart of a shoe, a rigidouter heel-and-shank portion, an insole, and a rigid shank sandwichedbetween said outer sole portions and said insole; the adjacent ends ofsaid outer half-sole portion and said rigid outer heel-andshank portionbeing tapered and having their tapered surfaces overlapping andconfronting each other with an elastic adhesive joining the confrontingtapered surfaces, said outer half-sole portion and said outerheeland-shank portion having a plurality of pairs of alignedperforations therethrough, a flexible lacing threaded through saidperforations, both ends of said lacing terminating on the side of theouter sole facing the said rigid shank.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,162,445 Bostock Nov. 30, 1915 2,340,828 Walsh Feb. 1, 1944 2,345,551Audino Apr. 4, 1944 2,361,511 Stritter .Oct. 31, 1944 2,691,832 LurieOct. 19, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 820,127 Germany Apr. 14, 1920

